Welcome Back, Old Friend
by iheartgod175
Summary: While the Rebels celebrate their victory over the Empire on the forest moon of Endor, Anakin and Obi-Wan have a conversation for the first time in over twenty years. Anakin/Obi-Wan friendship.


**A/N** : Before I start, I must thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who has given me this talent to entertain others. I give You the honor and the praise, right now, in Jesus' name! Amen!

Hello, people of the Star Wars community! The name's iheartgod175, and I'm here with a little one-shot that I came up with after watching _Return of the Jedi_ several weeks ago.

Darth Vader's redemption and death, as well as the ending, always got to me as a little kid. And now that I know more about the history of Star Wars ( _Legends_ continuity only; I don't hate the canon material, but I won't follow it in regards to the Separatist Alliance), I have to say that those are some of my favorite scenes in the whole movie series. I think some people may have done this before, but I wanted to do a story where Obi-Wan and Anakin talk for the first time in over twenty years, after his redemption and the fall of the Empire.

I hope you enjoy my first Star Wars fic!

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 **Story Title:** Welcome Back, Old Friend

 **Genre/Tags:** Hurt/Comfort/Friendship

 **Summary** :While the Rebels celebrate their victory on the forest moon of Endor, Obi-Wan Kenobi has a conversation with his former apprentice. Anakin/Obi-Wan friendship.

 **Disclaimer _:_** It should be obvious, but I'm not George Lucas, so I don't own any of the characters.

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 **Welcome Back, Old Friend**

Obi-Wan smiled as he watched Luke, Leia, Han and the rest of the Rebel Alliance forces celebrate their victory over the Empire. Through the Force, he could feel the festive moods of the species of various planets as they too celebrated the destruction of the second Death Star and the deaths of Palpatine and Vader. Certain worlds, such as Naboo, Coruscant and Tatooine, came to mind frequently, as those worlds had been affected heavily by the Empire.

They would be affected no longer. They were free. After over twenty years of hardship, suffering and slavery, the galaxy was finally free.

Freedom, of course, didn't come without its prices. He looked over at his former apprentice, Anakin Skywalker, who watched his son and daughter celebrate with their friends. While he had a small smile on his face, his expression was melancholic, and Obi-Wan could see the hurt and pain in his eyes. Anakin's inability to let go of what he feared to lose had cost the galaxy dearly- of its protectors, the Jedi, and the very ideals of the Republic itself. It had come at the cost of billions, possibly trillions of lives, lives that had been robbed by the Empire or by the horrors of war.

It had also cost Anakin a hefty price as well, as he was not only robbed of his body, but of the one reason he had turned to evil in the first place…

During his time as a Force Ghost, Obi-Wan couldn't help but think of how things could have prevented the fall of Republic. A lot of "what-ifs" came to mind. What if he had helped to ease his apprentice's distrust of the Jedi? What if he had been a little more wary of Anakin's "friendship" with Palpatine? What if he had been more aware of the corruption of the very Republic he served?

He had learned that he shouldn't dwell on the "what-ifs", as it had only caused him nothing but torment and pain as he had remembered the good friends he'd lost over the years due to his decisions. But now, as he watched everyone celebrate, he wondered how the galaxy would've been had he done things differently. He would still have his friends. The Jedi Order would still be in place.

And most of all, he wouldn't have lost his apprentice to the dark side.

He turned towards Anakin, who had now turned away from the party and was now looking at him. "It's been a long time since we last spoke, Obi-Wan," he said finally.

"Indeed," Obi-Wan answered. "The last time we spoke was our last duel."

"Well, we were trading insults back then," Anakin replied cheekily, "so I don't think that counts as a real conversation, Obi-Wan."

Obi-Wan smirked wryly, but it faded quickly when he remembered just why they had been trading insults. He sighed.

"I thought you were too far gone down the dark side to be rescued," he admitted quietly.

Cheering filled the expanse of silence between Master and Apprentice for a long moment. Then, in the smallest voice that Obi-Wan had ever heard, Anakin said, "So did I."

Obi-Wan looked over as Anakin looked down the ground, his expression hard. "I did so many horrible things, Obi-Wan. I killed nearly every Jedi in the galaxy. I made billions of people suffer. I...I _enslaved_ people on their own planets," he said. "I helped the Sith regain control, when I was supposed to destroy them."

Obi-Wan's expression was pained. Anakin's admission brought him back to Mustafar, immediately after he had severed his limbs. He remembered the words he'd used in what he assumed would be his final conversation with Anakin.

 _You were supposed to destroy the Sith, not join them! You were to bring balance to the Force, not leave it in darkness!_

"Anakin, everyone has made mistakes," he said.

"Yeah, well, most mistakes don't involve the deaths of everyone you ever loved," Anakin replied bitterly. "I wish I could have done things differently...if I had followed the Jedi Order more closely, none of this would have ever happened." He sighed, and Obi-Wan could have sworn that tears had formed in his former apprentice's eyes. "Especially when you warned me to never form attachments."

Obi-Wan nodded, his expression also sad. Padme Amidala had been a good friend to him as well, and her death had hit him especially hard. But he knew that her death had been harder on Anakin; she had been the center of Anakin's life, to the point where he'd turned to the dark side just to save her. He couldn't begin to imagine the grief Vader had experienced when he realized that he had killed her.

"If it's any consolation, Anakin, I myself had to restrain from forming attachments," Obi-Wan replied. "I had to turn down the women I truly loved, as I valued my role as a Jedi. Those were not easy choices to make."

"I couldn't make that choice, to give up Padme for the sake of being a Jedi," Anakin said. "And now look what's happened because of it."

"Anakin, you're only human. You made a mistake," Obi-Wan said. "I've made a lot of mistakes. Everyone has made mistakes. But by learning from those mistakes, we become stronger and do better the next time around."

"I didn't grow stronger after I ended up killing Padme," Anakin said. "I only fell deeper into the dark side, and did even worse."

"But when you found your son again, and saw the love that he showed towards you," Obi-Wan continued, "it brought you back. You ceased to be Darth Vader and became Anakin Skywalker once more."

"I remembered what had caused Padme to die, Obi-Wan. She tried to convince me to come back, but in my anger, I silenced her. When I saw Luke being tortured, just for standing up for what he believed in-that there was some good in me-I couldn't just sit there and watch him die. I had already lost Padme; I didn't want to lose my children," Anakin said.

He sighed, watching the party continue. "I guess you're right about that, Obi-Wan. I did learn from that mistake," he said. "But I wonder what will happen to the galaxy now that the Sith have been defeated and the Empire is fragmented."

"That I can't say for sure," Obi-Wan replied. "But I think things will change for the better. Your son will restore the Jedi Order, and the Sith will be driven to the edge of the galaxy. Their fight won't be over, but they'll be ready for whatever threat comes their way. And they'll be ready to defend the galaxy and keep the peace. That is the role of the Jedi."

Anakin nodded, and for the second time tonight, a real smile broke out on his face. "Of course, we'll be there to give guidance to both Luke and Leia whenever they need it," he said.

Obi-Wan nodded, and clapped a hand on his apprentice's shoulder. "It's good to have you back, old friend," he said.

Anakin smiled. "It's good to be back, Master."

 **The End**

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 _ **This actually ended up being a little short, but sometimes, short and sweet is the way to go. I decided to mostly focus on Anakin and how he feels about his decisions, as well as Obi-Wan's feelings on most of his decisions. I have to admit, I was also a little sad when I was writing it, especially considering how much Vader grieved for his wife. It's interesting that love was the reason he turned to the dark side, but it ended up redeeming him. It's one of the reasons why Episode VII is my second favorite episode.**_

 _ **Reviews are great, but constructive criticism is even better. I hope you all enjoyed my first ever Star Wars fic!**_

 _ **God bless, iheartgod175**_


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